I have to thank you all for the reviews, and for the questions. More than one of you have actually helped me get over a minor case of writer's block, and reignite my muse. So Thanks!


Chapter 12

"Tim!"

Gibbs pushed himself up as sea water flooded into the hallway from the engine compartment, the boat listing violently. Over the roar of the water, the rooms along the hall echoed with the sounds of equipment and machinery toppling over and slamming to the floor as the ship tilted. Gibbs braced himself and leaned backwards as the hallway before him began decline, only hoping that nothing came crashing down the hall behind him.

"Boss! Where's McGee?"

Tony called from the stairway leading to the deck. Gibbs didn't answer, but began sloshing through the now ankle high rising water as Tony and Ziva retraced their steps back into the hull of the ship. As they did, they could see the ocean surging into the ship from the engine room doorway and the hole in the wall. The ship itself continued to tilt drastically, causing the agents to walk carefully, as if downhill, with one foot on the floor and the other on the wall.

"Shit, Probie!"

The group reached McGee, who was doing his best to sit up and keep his head above the swirling water. The section of steel covered him from his shins to stomach; and wouldn't move as Tim, pinned between the floor and the wall, heaved against it. Gibbs immediately reached into the water and grasped the piece of metal and pulled. It didn't move.

"Tony! Ziva! Help me lift it!"

The trapped agent coughed out sea water as he tried his best to help his teammates lift the metal from his body. From what he could tell, he didn't feel anything broken about his body, thankfully. He was just stuck, but the enormous pressure of the weight nearly made his eye bulge.

"Okay, one, two, lift!" Gibbs commanded.

They all attempted to move the steel, grunting as their weary muscles contracted. It rose slightly, but the sheer weight of it came back down to a rest on McGee's body, causing him to groan.

"Come on, Tim. This isn't how it's gonna be. Gibbs would hate to have to train another probie! Or hell, use those creeps from Cyber."

Tony attempted to lighten the mood as Gibbs nodded agreement. Only Ziva saw the pained and betrayed look in McGee's eyes as they locked on Tony's. The older agent didn't notice.

In Tim's panic stricken mind, with nearly a half ton of steel resting on his body, he saw before him the answer to a question he had asked himself time and time again. Do they really care about me? McGee could only pick out singular phrases from his two male teammates.

"You don't have my permission to die." Implying that he was an object, a possession.

"Not gonna train another agent."

I'm sorry Gibbs, how inconsiderate of me to put you in that position, McGee thought.

"This would happen to you, McLucky."

"I thought you've been working out, McLiar. Apparently not. Now help us lift this!"

Sure, here they were trying to save him, and of course Tony had an unorthodox sense of humor, but that was more than Tim was willing to accept at this point. Carefully, the young agent reached underwater, fishing around with his hand beside his torso until he found what he sought.

His fingers wrapped securely around his pistol.


"But Mr. Palmer, Timothy is down there!"

Ducky protested vehemently as Jimmy pushed him from behind up and out of the stairwell and onto the severely tilted deck. Sailors wobbled to and fro wearing life vests, leaning their bodies towards the deck as they walked. The captain, perched on the high railing, was calling out orders to his men. The medical examiner and his assistant heard the calling sirens of rescue crews.

"Dr. Mallard, we need to get off the ship!"

The old man's expression became aghast upon hearing the tone in his assistant's voice. The typically mild mannered and stuttering assistant sought deep within himself for strength; and found it. With an instinctual reflex, Jimmy grabbed two life vests that were sliding down the deck with one hand, his other around the waist of his boss to steady him.

"Yes, Mr. Palmer but Timothy!"

"The team is taking care of Tim. If we don't get off now we'll go down with the ship!"

The light of flames glinted from Ducky's glasses. Oil from the engine room had leaked out onto the waves and ignited, surrounding the starboard side of the ship; the side that was dipped into the water. As the ship continued its daring attempt at a complete inversion, Ducky and Jimmy watched in horror as a sailor lost his hold on a railing and slid down the deck, screaming as he plunged into the flames and the water.

With hidden strength, Jimmy tightened his grip on Ducky and pushed them forward and up the deck, pinning him against the port railing.

"I won't let you fall Dr. Mallard! I won't let you fall!"

Over Jimmy's shoulder, the old ME could see more oil pouring into the sea, the flames growing larger. Ducky reached behind him, hooking his elbows on the railing as Jimmy all but hugged him, his arms wrapped around the railing. The ship continued to tilt.

"We'll need to climb over the railing soon, Doctor! Don't worry, I'll help you."

Ducky nodded, touched by Jimmy's protectiveness, yet horrified at the situation that caused it.


McGee wasn't sure how he felt. He was panicking; and he was enraged. He watched with distaste as his team… no, just the team, tried to free him from the steel coffin. Tony and Gibbs were still feeding him rhetoric; minute statements that implied care, but were laced with criticism, patronization, and disappointment.

Tim raised the pistol and aimed it at the team, but primarily Tony and Gibbs. Ziva will understand. He watched as their expressions changed from concern (how genuine, Tim wasn't sure) to shock.

"McGee, what are you-"

Tim spat out water as the level reached his ears.

"Get out! Leave Boss!"

"McGee! What the hell-"

"Dammit Boss, didn't you hear me? Get the hell out of here!"

The team heard the sound of the safety of the pistol being switched off.

"Probie?"

"No *cough* Tony. All of you. Get out of here. If this is how I go, then fine. But, my last moments aren't going to hear how inadequate I am, or how inconvenient training someone else will be to you, or how you own me. I've had enough!"

The tone in his voice bit through all three of them, but the two men more so. All three flinched as McGee fired a round off above their heads, the sound overwhelming the roar of the sea water as it continued to rush into the hall. The team paused and just stared.

"That was a warning shot! If you want to die here with me, that's fine. Get away from me!"

Nothing.

Boom!

"I said get away from me!" McGee screamed, a look of terror and betrayal in his eyes.

Staring down the barrel of the gun Gibbs had given the agent years ago, the team leader finally conceded.

"Ok, Tim."

"Don't call me Tim! You never felt it necessary to use my first name until just recently. Just stop. Just go!"

Gibbs nodded, not quite understanding what was happening. He wanted to think that McGee was making a heroic decision; threaten them so that they would leave, thus saving them from drowning with him. But, there was obviously more to it. The sheer anger in McGee's eyes chilled Gibbs' blood, and he recalled him using the same tone when telling his father not to call him 'Son', earlier that morning.

Slowly, he turned, motioning for his remaining two agents to follow.

"No! Boss-" Tony began to protest.

Boom!

McGee fired again, right over Tony's head, who ducked and held up his hands in defeat. Finally, he too turned. Only Ziva cast a sad glance over her shoulder as the water rose and they escaped.

Tim watched them go as tears fell from his eyes. Well, it's fitting. If I were born in the sea, at least I will die in it.

Although the thought made sense to him, he chuckled thinking of the irony of how the agent who got seasick would die in it. The pistol tumbled from his fingertips as the sea water rose past his eyes, blurring his vision. God, it's cold.

With a last surge of energy, McGee leaned upwards, took the deepest breath he could muster, then let the water envelope him.


Tony, Ziva and Gibbs pulled themselves out of the stairwell in silence. The ship was now nearly completely on its side, causing the agents to literally lay on the wall to keep from sliding into the inferno on the waves. A fleet of fire department boats had already arrived and were sending powerful streams of foam towards the flames, but they kept burning. Just beyond the fire boats, Ziva saw a cluster of dark splotches in the waves. Squinting to get a better look, she nearly gasped upon realization of what they were.

A large group of seals had gathered; all of which stared towards the flames and the hole in the side of the naval cruiser; the engine room. Then, one by one, they disappeared into the water. Only one remained, staring. Just like at the aquarium.

"David! You hear me?"

Ziva turned to Gibbs, her face blank.

"I said we're going to make our way along the wall, drop into the water from the aft. Palmer has Ducky safely secured. You with me?"

Ziva nodded, her mind on the seals and the agent they left behind. No, not just the agent, but her friend. Her best friend.

Left to die in the cold halls of the naval cruiser.

Gritting her teeth, Ziva followed Tony and Gibbs as they walked along the wall, the salt water hiding the tears that fell.